Enrollment at UC Santa Barbara has been increasing and student housing has been slow to keep up. The delays in moving forward on UCSB’s Munger Hall project — the proposed nine-story mega-dorm capable of housing 3,500 students — had many University of California Regents expressing their frustration with the slow-going housing developments on UCSB’s campus during their January 18 board meeting.
UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang began his presentation on UCSB’s campus overview with an extensive report on the university’s history, detailing how much effort they have put into increasing their applicant pool, student diversity, and student success in the time since he became chancellor almost 30 years ago. He outlined multiple programs, fundraising initiatives, and goals to continue to increase diversity among students, faculty, and staff, as well as support student success, before moving on to the looming issue of housing.
Yang first explained that nearly 10,500 students, or 42 percent of UCSB’s student population, are currently in student housing, and all who applied for student housing for the fall and winter quarters had been accommodated. He also said that the university has provided more than 200 extra bed spaces for students, while simultaneously reducing the number of occupants per room by “de-tripling” available bed spaces on campus.